By now you're accustomed to each control on Panorama being a multi-layered thing: it can fulfill one purpose in Mixer mode, for example, and do something completely different in Instrument mode.

But there's one set of controls that serves dual purposes in each mode: The Transport buttons, which are also known as the F-Keys depending on whether you're holding down the F-Key button when you press them. If there's any confusion about that, hopefully this article will clear that up.

Transport buttons: Internal mode

When Panorama is in Internal mode the Transport buttons behave like any other control button: they are assignable to the various Message Types like MIDI CC and Program change, etc. But keep in mind that the assignments you make to the Transport buttons on the Internal mode Control Edit pageare not saved with the Preset or with the F-Keys map. They're considered "Global" settings, so they do not change when a new Preset or F-Keys map is loaded. They are only "saved" when you back up the Panorama memory, and are restored or overwritten when you load the memory file back into the Panorama.

F-Keys: all modes

The thing that turns a Transport button into an F-Key is just that: the F-Keys button. To illustrate this:

Enter a Control Edit page (Internal / Setup / Control Edit / Enter)

Press one of the Transport buttons. The display will let you know that's where you are by showing the word 'TRANSPORT' above the button icons.

Now hold the F-Keys button and press the same Transport button again. You'll see the word 'F-KEYS' show up above the button icons.

As long as you keep holding down the F-Keys button, any Transport button you press is considered an F-Key. But as soon as you let go of the F-Keys button, the same buttons are considered Transport buttons.

The F-Key button itself serves no other purpose than to decide the state of the Transport buttons, so when you press it by itself you won't see it selected on the Control Edit page.

The difference is...

The list of assignable Message Types is the same for the F-Keys and the Transport buttons in Internal mode. The main difference between them, other than the need for the F-Key button or lack thereof, is that the default Message Type for the Transport buttons is MIDI CC, while the default Message Type for the F-Keys is a QWERTY Macro.

Once Panorama is locked to Reason, though, the differences become very stark (and mostly obvious): The Transport buttons serve as Transport controls, and the F-Keys will do whatever you told them to do in Control Edit mode: launch a QWERTY Macro, play a note, send a MIDI CC message, whatever.